Frontier Airlines reduces its fees, launches “Frontier Express”

Frontier Airlines (2nd) (Denver) yesterday (April 12) announced a move to significantly enhance the guest experience with new fee reductions and policy changes effective for tickets purchased on or after today, April 13, 2011. Key changes include the addition of no change fees for itinerary changes made prior to the day of travel on the airline’s popular Classic fares and the expansion of the airline’s guest commitment posted on FrontierAirlines.com.

For tickets purchased on or after April 13, 2011, Frontier will reduce the change fee from $100 to $50 on Economy fares and will also add a discount on the first checked bag fee for any guest who checks in online at FrontierAirlines.com. This discount is currently set at $5, which reduces the checked bag fee from $20 to $15 on the Economy fare. Guests traveling on Classic and Classic Plus fares will continue to receive two complimentary checked bags on every flight.

Frontier also added another level of transparency for its guests by posting its revised guest commitment online. The guest commitment outlines what a Frontier Airlines guest can expect in any kind of irregular operation including, flight delays and cancelations. The guest commitment can be found in the customer service section at FrontierAirlines.com.

Other key changes effective April 13, 2011, include:

Bicycles:

Frontier is removing the flat fee for checked bicycles and will now include them in the standard baggage allowance, meaning customers traveling on Classis or Classic Plus fares can include their bike as one of their two complimentary checked bags and Economy passengers would pay $20 if the bike is one of their first two checked bags. Bikes will be exempt from any oversize fees, but subject to overweight fees and excess bag fees, if applicable. This is similar to the carrier’s current policy for golf clubs and skis.

Policy changes:

Name changes will now be permitted for $50 on Classic and Economy tickets. Classic Plus ticket holders and Summit-level EarlyReturns members can change a name at no charge. In addition to the name-change fee, guests will also be responsible for paying any difference in fare at the time the change is made.

Fees for same-day confirmed flight changes on Classic tickets will be reduced to $25 from $50 with no fare difference.
The excess bag fee – for a third bag and beyond – will be standardized at $50 per bag for all markets, domestic and international.

Included in the guest enhancements is the launch of Frontier Express, a branding designation that will now be used for all Frontier flights operated on ERJ 135, ERJ 145 and Q400 aircraft. The Frontier Express branding will indicate that the in-flight service and amenities will differ from Frontier’s standard mainline service found on Airbus, Embraer 190 and Embraer 170 aircraft.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough. Please click on the photo for additional information including Frontier’s new partnership with The Wilderness Society.

Frontier-Republic Slide Show: CLICK HERE